


Day 25: Telling Stories

by AQ110



Series: Klancetober [25]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fire, Homesickness, Keith (Voltron) Angst, M/M, Outer Space, Past Abuse, Story, Water, life - Freeform, sand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 07:07:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16529792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AQ110/pseuds/AQ110
Summary: Not all stories are good ones, but that doesn't mean that we can't change the ending.Part 25 of 31 for @ikimaru's (Instagram) Klancetober!Each part has a chance to have another chapter or a full fledged story afterwords, so please leave a comment if you want more and I will have regular updates once October ends!





	Day 25: Telling Stories

**Author's Note:**

> Slow burn? Kinda? Klance fluff will be in added chapters

**Day 25: Telling Stories**

 

“Alright everyone!” came Allura’s way too cheery voice considering how early it was. All of the paladins were gathered in the training room for some important ‘team bonding’ exercises Coran had planned. The nine of them have been fighting for a few weeks now, and while they have won quite a few battles, it was deemed that their teamwork still needed a bit of tweaking. “Today we will be telling stories!”

“Stories?” Lance asked from where he sat on the floor.

“Yes! You see, all of your lions represent an element. In some way or form, all of you are connected to that element of your lion. I want you to share a story or two with the mind melds. We will even be using them to show a visual to make it easier. Kind of like...what did you call them? A movie?”

“That’s right.” Pidge nodded “So what order do we go in?”

“I want to start!” the blue paladin cheered, arm raised in the air like an excited six year old “My element is water, right?”

The princess nodded “Yes it is. You may start whenever you’re ready.”

The teen nodded and immediately put the mind meld on his head.

The first image was an ocean that expanded into the horizon. A family was playing on the sand, a few kids getting a running start into the salty water. The image faded and a picture of the same beach appeared, but this time there was a wedding between one of the girls from the first showing and an unknown groom. The sun lit up her white dress wonderfully like she was an angel. The smiles on everyone’s face, the happy atmosphere that coated the beach, was brighter than the sun that warmed the sand beneath their feet. 

Next was an aquarium. Specifically, it was Lance in the shark exhibit. His hand was resting on the cool glass of the large tank. A shark, a  _ great white shark, _ booped the area where the tan hand was spread out with its large nose. There was a moment where neither of them couldn’t look away from one another, as if the shark had chosen to connect with Lance rather than any of the other patrons. But with a flash of a camera, the shark was gone.

Lastly, it was Lance’s birthday. The entire house was covered in decorations to celebrate the birth of their family member. All of his family surrounded the blue eyed boy as he opened the largest gift in the pile. Inside the beautiful space patterned paper was a blue surf board with a great white on the bottom of it. With a few hugs and kisses, a thanks here and there, Lance ran out the door straight to the ocean with the sun warming his sun kissed skin.

“That was very interesting, Lance.” Allura commented in awe. She had never seen so much blue water in one place before. And if that was only with Lance’s memory, she couldn’t help but to wonder just how much water drowned their planet.

“Man, I miss the ocean. I haven’t even surfed since I left Cuba to go to the Garrison. I think that will be the first thing I do when we go back.”

“You know what?” Pidge spoke up “I grew up with science and pretty much inside a lab. I’m curious how life is my element. Can I go next?”

“Of course Pidge!”

The blue paladin passed the headgear to the shortest of the group who eagerly put it on her head and closed her eyes.

It showed the inside of her bedroom when they first moved into their new house in Arizona. Sam, her father, had gotten a job at the Galaxy Garrison as an engineer and pilot, so the family decided to make the move.  Her room was empty aside from a few boxes and her bed. Matt had promised to set up her desk and bookshelf later that day, but had left with their dad to work out paperwork at the Garrison, leaving her and her mother alone in the two story house. The future green paladin was sprawled out across her carpeted  bedroom floor, staring at the white ceiling above her when there was a soft knock on her bedroom door. Her mother came in and handed her a small red pot with a Venus fly trap seed inside.

The next part was a flash of clips with her and her fly trap that she so rightfully named Nebula. When the first signs of plant life began to spout and Katie was so excited that she ran from the room and excitedly told her parents all about it. When she was studying to the point of exhaustion, but the plant made a movement that drew her attention back to reality. When she talked to it about how excited she was that her dad and brother were finally going to be in space. When she held the now decorated pot to her chest as she cried because her family was lost in the abyss of space. When she was trying to come up with a new name for herself and Nebula snapped at a pigeon outside her window. When she gently set him on her desk at the Garrison and whispered that who she really was would be their ‘little secret’.

“Wow.” Pidge breathed as she took the headset off. "When it’s all side by side like that, It’s crazy how much Nebula influenced me. I...hope someone is taking care of him.”

Their leader put a gentle but large hand on her shoulder in reassurance. “I’m sure your mother had got it under control.”

The shorter snorted with a light laugh leaving her lips. “I sure hope so. I’d hate to scold her as soon as we get back to Earth.”

“Shiro?” Allura asked with a fond smile “Would you like to go next?”

“If no one else minds.” the Japanese man agreed, only taking the headset after no one objected, making sure he wasn’t stealing their turn.

Shiro was young, maybe about ten in the first clip. He was given an astrology book by an older man, most likely his grandfather. The young boy sat on his lap as they went over constellations together for what seemed to be hours in a comfortable atmosphere of the small house.

Next Shiro was a teenager. He was on the roof of his home, textbooks surrounding him as he set up the old family telescope. In the end, he spent all night watching the stars and creating charts of his own. There was a sparkle in those onyx eyes that seemed to reflect the brightness of those stars he observed.

Then he was in the flight simulator at the Garrison. It was supposed to be professional, he  _ knew _ that. But the smile spread on his lips as he cleared level two; no one in his class had one that yet. So Shiro kept pushing because  _ just how far could he get? _

Now he was at his parents house, visiting for some sort of school break. He told them about his lover, Adam, and how he hoped they would get to meet him next time. But they were not as accepting as he thought they would be. They told him to leave their sights while they thought over his ‘phase’ in peace. So, Shiro did what he usually does when he needed to escape. The future black paladin went to the roof and got lost in the cold air and the bright stars above him. Hoping one day, he could actually be a part of that beautiful system in the sky.

The last one was him in front of the rocket that would take him to Kerberos. Keith was behind him with his arms crossed, but there was determination in those eyes too. And just as he had done his whole life, since he started learning about the stars, he looked to the sky with a smile of what was to come.

“It’s funny.” Shiro said, slowly taking off the headpiece and gaining the others attention “How you forget how you were so passionate about something when you’re surrounded by it. But...even if space did hurt me, I can’t stay mad. It really is beautiful up here.”

“Well said, my boy.” Coran nodded “We tend to take things for granted without realizing it. It really is nice up here, isn’t it?”

“Hunk?” the black paladin gently asked “Would you like to go next?”

“Uh, sure. I don’t see why not.”

The yellow paladin gently took the head piece and placed it on his dark brown locks before closing his eyes and concentrating on the element of sand throughout his life.

There was a beach, but it was different from Lance’s. This one was more crowded and had food stalls in different areas around the beach. While the others went straight to the water, a younger Hunk chose to go to the stalls instead. He was a regular to the point where if he gave them ideas or opinions on their food, he would be given a free serving for the help. Hunk loved look of the slightly sandy wood of the shops and stall from beach goers entering. While most would find it annoying, Hunk found it charming in a way.

Another time, he was visiting some realities in another state that wasn’t near any beaches at all. But his niece  _ did _ have a sandbox in the backyard shaped like a turtle. So on the night before the Garrot’s had to take their leave, Hunk hid some of his coins in the sand for her to find the next time she played. He got a slightly sandy letter a week later with a thank you note inside from her.

Hunk took the headgear off with a small laugh leaving his lips. “Marcie said she knew it was me right away, but she was really happy. I do it almost every time I go to their house now. It’s kinda like a tradition.”

The yellow paladin handed the gear out for Keith to take. The latter simply stared at the piece being offered to him with blank eyes. Neither of them moved for a moment, just a silence encompassing the room before Lance was the one to break the stillness in the air.

“You okay, mullet? You seem a little spaced.” his voice wavered between concerned and gentle as his eyes stayed glued to the red paladin.

It wasn’t  _ meant  _ to be a pun. Nonetheless Pidge still stifled a groan next to the blue paladin, amazed, in a sense, that even subconsciously the Cuban was a jokester at heart. But it seemed that his words broke Keith out of whatever spell he had put himself in. Slow, glove covered hands reached out and took a hold of the Altean device.

Without saying anything at all, the mullet haired teen placed the device on top of his head of messy hair. With a quick glance around the room, taking in the expressions of those he has come to know, he closed his purple eyes and let the device take over.

It was the shack where they all first met, excluding the ten thousand year old Alteans. But it was different now, the wood seemed younger, stronger. The whole building seemed to radiate a fresh air about it rather than the gloom it held when they first had seen it. Keith was young, maybe about six years old. But he wasn’t playing around like most six year olds would be, tiny hands were working with the electric stove, making some sort of pasta noodles. And by the looks of it, he had done it a thousand times before. But before much else happened, there was a loud, impatient scratching at the front door, to witch the six year old took a knife from one of the kitchen drawers before he answered the door with the confidence of a full grown man.

When the door opened and revealed a whimpering dog, he let it in without hesitation with a pat on its head. But the dog seemed to have burns on its legs. They were fresh, and looking closer, the young Keith recalled it being one of the townspeople's. So he turned off the stove, put gauze on the dogs wounds, left dog food in a bowl for the hungry mutt (he fed strays all the time, so there was always pet food stocked in their house) and left the house. He needed to tell the owners.

But...when he got to town, smoke was rising, rising, rising in the distance. So he ran as fast as his small shoes could take him. He always wanted to be a hero after all. Just like the books, just like his father. But when he arrived at the scene, the house was encompassed in roaring flames, licking the dark sky with its threatening light. It was one large bonfire that  _ wasn’t supposed to be there _ . And the firetruck, number eight, was his dads unit. But he couldn’t see him with the rest of the squad. And then, with pained screams and smoke, the building fell down, getting debris and smoke in his small eyes. As he looked at all of the crestfallen expressions around him, Keith knew, his father was gone, just like the house. Just like his mom.

Next was a series of small snippets in his life where rage  _ burned  _ like the father that took the last of his trust away. Even if he was a drunken, lost man, he was Keith’s father. The Texan man was all he had left.

When he was at the home for the first time and the caretakers tried to take his knife, the only thing his own mother bothered to leave him. When the fireplace was turned on in his second foster home and he had a panic attack for the first, and last, time openly. When one of his foster fathers  _ burned  _ cigarettes into his pale skin. When fucking James Griffon made fun of him being an orphan and he decked him because the rage was consuming him and he just couldn’t take it anymore.

The images abruptly shut off before the next one could be given a proper start. The group turned to Keith to see him holding the headgear unsteadily in two hands. But just as he always did, when he found he couldn’t run away from the problem, the Korean teen met them head on. With a raised head and determined eyes, Keith handed the device to Allura without issue.

“I don’t think there’s any reason to see the rest. It’s pretty much the same after that.” He stated without so much as a shrug.

The room was silent. Different thoughts running through their minds a mile a minute. If those were just related to the flames, what else was there?

_ And why would the universe choose to burn one man so many times? _


End file.
